Pressure processor pushes potential
Massey University's food pilot plant at Palmerston North has acquired a new machine to test high-pressure processing on food products.
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Massey University’s food pilot plant at Palmerston North has acquired a new machine to test high-pressure processing on food products.
Massey University lecturer Jon Palmer says the machine’s ability to pasteurise at low temperatures brings huge potential for the industry as it allows treated fresh products no longer need refrigeration.
He says the machine uses high pressure and low temperatures and can reach up to 1000-7000 times atmospheric pressure for two to 15 minutes.
“What this allows us to do is kill bacteria without the temperature so vitamin and mineral content remains quite high and the quality of the food product will remain high,” he says.
“We’ve eliminated the pathogens but increased the shelf life.”
Dr Palmer says the machine, which has a two-litre capacity, is useful for testing high-end products such as salmon, pesto and juices.
It could also be used for milk products but Dr Palmer says for such products the costs outweigh the benefit.
There has already been interest from several companies wanting to develop food products with longer shelf lives. He has also tested the machine on packaging such as Styrofoam cups.
Dr Palmer says while high pressure processing has been in the background for some time, it has huge potential for the industry.
“While the unit cost is quite high the future potential is that it minimises the vital loss of content of products.”
He says while there are already some products on the market that take advantage of high-pressure processing, such as ready-made guacamole, it takes time for such products to get to market from development.
“There are a few issues with the Ministry of Primary Industries on what the regulations are for these types of products.”
Companies that have tested products in the new machine can try larger-scale production with a similar 60-litre capacity machine located at the Food Bowl facility near Auckland International Airport.
Victoria Young
Thu, 11 Apr 2013
Thu, 11 Apr 2013
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Pressure processor pushes potential
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